SYRACUSE, N.Y. - More than a dozen teams of students from area colleges will compete today for a top prize of $1,000 at the annual Syracuse Student Sandbox Demo Day.

The 12-week sandbox program, housed at the Tech Garden in downtown Syracuse, aims to foster new business concepts from local students. The program began in 2009 with five companies.

Seventeen teams will pitch their ideas to investors and mentors at today's Demo Day event, which begins at 3 p.m. at the Everson Museum of Art. A tradeshow with product demonstrations will follow at the Tech Garden.

Judges will choose a first-place team, which will receive the $1,000 prize. One team will also be chosen to pitch later this month at StartFast Demo Day.

StartFast is a separate incubator program for more advanced companies that draws a large crowd of major potential investors. Pitching there could provide a real boost for a young company, said John Liddy, entrepreneur in residence at the sandbox

This year's sandbox teams include students from Syracuse University, Le Moyne College, Monroe Community College, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Teams that finish the program can spend a full year developing their businesses further at the Tech Garden. More than half of this year's group will probably take advantage of that opportunity, Liddy said.

This year's sandbox teams are working on everything from shopping apps to solar energy.